News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

Submitted by the Federation of British Columbia Woodlot Associations (FBCWA)

Most BC woodlot licensees probably don’t know it, but an example of their work was on display - front and centre in fact - when Alex Bilodeau won Canada’s first gold medal on home soil on February 14.

(Photo: Rod Blake and his buddy Kotaro (above) helped build one of 23 Olympic podiums (below) with the donation of part of this Fir log. The remainder of the log was used for a curved beam in a log house.)

If you watched the electrifying run that gave Bilodeau the gold in men’s moguls, and then watched as he mounted the podium to the cheers of Canadian fans at Cypress Mountain, then you saw the contributions of one woodlot to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The podium Bilodeau was standing on during the flower ceremony was made from an Amabilis Fir tree cut, milled and donated by Spiketop Cedar and Woodlot 0071, two enterprises managed by the Burgess family of Port Hardy on Vancouver Island.

"I knew which tree I would use the moment I was asked," says Jim Burgess.

"I hope the athletes enjoy standing on our beautiful North Island wood," adds Jim’s wife and business partner Karen.

The program was an initiative of the provincial government in support of the Vancouver Olympics. In total, 23 podiums featuring 18 different native wood species were sourced from around the province to use at the various venues around Vancouver and Whistler.

In fact, the Burgess podium wasn’t the only one to come from a BC woodlot. The podium that will be used for the medal presentations in Whistler during the Paralympic Games was built from Interior Douglas Fir donated from two woodlots operated by Rod Blake and Jim Brown-John in the Horsefly and Likely areas of the Cariboo.

"I am proud to be a small part of the Olympics," says Stephen Brown-John, who comanages Woodlot 1577 in Horsefly with his father Jim. "It is an honour that champions will stand on the best lumber the Interior of British Columbia has to offer."

As the Burgesses, Blakes and Brown-Johns will attest, the podiums built from wood harvested by members of the Federation of BC Woodlot Associations comes from the heart.

"Well-managed family woodlot operations are a source of pride for our community and make significant contributions to the local economy," said Port Hardy Mayor Bev Parnham. "Woodlots support the evolution of new business and aid in the diversification of our rural economies."

"In addition to employment and recreation access, woodlots offer communities the security that the forests near them are managed in a responsible manner," added Rod Blake.

British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests and Range sourced the wood and coordinated production of the 23 podiums.

The rough lumber was converted to panels at Metro Vancouver’s Bayview Millworks, and cut into complex shapes using sophisticated computer controlled machinery at the University of BC’s Centre for Advanced Wood Processing.

They were assembled at RONA’s Vancouver 2010 Fabrication Shop, a communitybased training centre that teaches carpentry skills to new Canadians and at-risk youth.

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